


Act IV

by macarism



Category: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead - Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990) RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2370089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macarism/pseuds/macarism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern get to lights up on Act I? Or how do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern get from Act III to Act I, but that's all up to interpretation, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Act IV

**Author's Note:**

> Working with the idea that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are stuck in a never ending cycle, doomed to repeat Hamlet's play over and over and over again.

_The lights go up to reveal_ GUILDENSTERN (GUIL).

GUIL: - don’t.

_He looks around._

GUIL: Well. That’s interesting. That’s quite … interesting. I seem to have … forgotten -  
  
 _He looks down at himself._

\- everything.

ROSENCRANTZ (ROS) _enters, eating an apple._

ROS: Hello.

GUIL: Mm.

ROS: Are you lost?

GUIL: Am I?

ROS: _(Hesitates)_ Ah.

GUIL: What day is this?

ROS: _(Cheery)_ Ah. It’s -

_(Pause)_

Well, yesterday was -

_(Pause)_

Yesterday.

GUIL: _(Sarcastic)_ I’d wondered.

ROS: Well, where was it you were going?

GUIL: Had I known, I wouldn’t be standing here, would I?

ROS: You might if you weren’t in any hurry.

GUIL _begins to say something, but stops and instead begins pacing back and forth._

ROS: Perhaps if you knew where it was you’d come from, you might be able to retrace your steps.

GUIL _stops beside_ ROS.

GUIL: And what happens if I forget where I’m going once I reach this spot again?

ROS: Well, the law of averages means that if six monkeys -

GUIL: What’s monkeys got to do with where I’m going?

ROS: _(Weakly)_ The law of averages.

GUIL: _(Irritated)_ And where are you going?

ROS _looks behind him, then ahead. He takes a bit of his apple and points offstage._

ROS: That way.

GUIL _resumes pacing._ ROS _watches him, then begins inspecting the corners of the stage._

ROS: Do you know -

GUIL: No.

ROS: Well, I’ll tell you -

GUIL: Please don’t.

ROS _stops and looks at_ GUIL _, upset._

ROS: You’re very rude, you know.

GUIL _stops, his back to_ ROS.

ROS: You haven’t even asked me my name.

GUIL: Why do I feel as though I’ll regret doing so?

ROS _walks towards_ GUIL _and taps him on the shoulder. He looks pleased._

GUIL: Alright. What’s your name.

ROS: Funny you should ask -

_(Pause)_

Oh.

GUIL: Oh?

ROS: I seem to have forgotten.

GUIL: That seems a common problem.

ROS: _(Upset)_ But how does one forget one’s name? It’s … it is … one’s name is -

GUIL: _(Shouting, angry)_ Rosencrantz!

ROS: No. No, that’s not it.

GUIL _resumes pacing._ ROS _watches him, eating his apple. He finishes it, throws it over his shoulder and digs in his pocket, pulling from it a coin._

ROS: Do you bet?

GUIL: No.

ROS _stops, confused._

ROS: I hadn’t expected that.

GUIL: What?

ROS: Well … you were meant to say yes.

GUIL: “Meant to”? How am I “meant” to do anything when I can’t even remember where I’ve come from?

ROS: _(Shrugs)_ It was a hunch.

GUIL: Well, very little good can come from a hunch.

ROS _flips the coin._

ROS: Tails.

GUIL _stops pacing and they look at each other, shocked._

ROS: Hm.

GUIL: Yes.

ROS: Do you suppose perhaps we’re dead?

GUIL: We can’t be dead.

ROS: Well, why not? No man has ever come back from it to report on it, how are we to know we’re not dead? This could be all life has to offer. Nothing.

GUIL: We can’t be dead because death is absolute.

ROS: And what is this, then?

GUIL: This is … something. We exist, that much I know. _(To himself, confident)_ That much I know.

ROS: Well, that’s some comfort. I shouldn’t like being dead.

GUIL: How would you know if you’ve never been dead?

ROS: I don’t like absolutes. There’s no room for change.

GUIL: Well, at least we know something.

ROS: I only wish I knew my name.

GUIL: _(Exasperated)_ Rosencrantz.

_They look at each other again, shocked._ GUIL _walks to_ ROS _until they are less than a foot apart._

ROS: Well.

GUIL: Yes.

ROS: Then that would make you -

GUIL: Yes?

ROS: Ah.

GUIL _resumes pacing._ ROS _looks at the coin._

ROS: Perhaps we’re asleep.

GUIL: Asleep?

ROS: Yes. Asleep. Perhaps this is a dream.

GUIL: A dream we’re both having?

ROS: It might be possible.

GUIL: Then why, out of all the things I might be able to dream, why am I dreaming about you?

ROS: Well, I’m dreaming about you.

GUIL: So it would seem.

GUIL _stops and turns back to_ ROS.

GUIL: The law of averages.

ROS: Yes.

GUIL: How many times has that come up tails?

ROS _counts with his fingers._

ROS: Three times.

_(He flips the coin)_

GUIL: Six monkeys thrown up in the air long enough, they would land on their heads as often as they would land on their -

ROS: Tails.

GUIL: Exactly.

ROS: What exactly?

GUIL: Six!

_(He rushes towards_ ROS _and grabs him by the shoulders, shaking him)_

Six monkeys, heads and tails even.

_(He releases_ ROS, _who is startled)_

Toss it again.

ROS: Make a bet?

GUIL: What?

ROS: _(Slowly)_ A bet.

GUIL: No, of course not. Besides, I haven’t any money.

ROS _flips the coin again._

ROS: Tails.

_(He looks up at_ GUIL)

Four.

GUIL: Do it again.

ROS _flips the coin again._

ROS: Tails.

GUIL _is shaken._

GUIL: Perhaps we are sleeping. Yes, that would make sense. The coin, this place, you -

ROS: Guildenstern.

GUIL: - not knowing where we are, where we’re going. Perhaps we’re sleeping in our own beds -

ROS: Guildenstern.

GUIL: - with our own names -

ROS _flips the coin again._

GUIL: - and our own destinations and when we wake it will be -

ROS: Heads.

_There is a loud, fervent knocking._ ROS _and_ GUIL _freeze, suddenly terrified, and look at each other._

VOICE: _(Offstage, shouting)_ Rosencrantz! Guildenstern!

GUIL: There was a messenger.

_The play fades out._

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this was my Intro to Theatre final in my freshman year of university. As I'm in the current production of R&GAD now in my senior year, it seemed fitting to finally let this little piece see the light of day. It was just a quick project but it has a special place in my heart.


End file.
